The Ice King (formerly Simon Petrikov) is the main antagonist (often unintentionally) of Adventure Time. His typical misdeed is to kidnap a princess and force her to marry him, which Finn and Jake foil every time. As his name suggests, Ice King is also his title, announcing himself as King of Ice. He is the ruler of the Ice Kingdom. His magical abilities, including his flight and ice powers, are contained in his crown, and he is therefore powerless without it. His crown is also the cause of his loss of sanity, his unusual blue skin color, his goblin-like nose, his white eyes, and his beard. Some time before the Mushroom War, he discovered the Enchiridion and bought the crown.

Despite being the show's main antagonist for most of the series, he can turn tragic hero and prove to be a valuable ally, as seen in the episodes "Mortal Recoil" and "Beyond this Earthly Realm."

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Ice King is a short, blue, elderly man with unusually pointy fingers, pointy toes, sharp teeth, and a goblin-like nose. He wears a dark blue tunic and has a large white beard that covers most of his body. Though the robe gives him the appearance of a larger man, Ice King's body is in fact exceptionally thin. Despite this, Ice King reveals that he is on a diet in "What Have You Done?" Ice King is rarely seen without his crown; without it he is powerless and he is revealed to have a short length of white hair atop his head. The only time he has been seen in shoes was when he was working out before Slime Princess came to talk to him in "Loyalty to the King."

Sometime before the Mushroom War, Ice King was a normal, olive-skinned, dark-haired, glasses-wearing human named Simon Petrikov studying to be an antiquarian (a specialist in the knowledge of ancient artifacts). He had a young fiancée named Betty, whom he referred to as his "princess" and loved dearly. In "I Remember You" it is revealed that Simon Petrikov discovered The Enchiridion at some point in his career, with the article pictured mentioning he was a professor of archeology. It can also be inferred that Simon lived in San Francisco (or at least California) due to background images in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" and the wreckage of the area surrounding the U.S. 101 exit in "I Remember You."

At some point in his career, he purchased a strange jeweled crown from an old dock worker in Northern Scandinavia. After bringing the crown home, he put it on his head to make Betty laugh, but the crown caused him to black out and experience odd visions.

Petrikov had no recollection of what he had said or done while wearing the crown, though it was enough to frighten away his fiancée. Simon never heard or saw Betty ever again and began to record himself on VHS tape so people would know his story. As time passed, Petrikov would hear voices and continued having disturbing visions without even putting the crown on. Over time, his skin turned light blue, his nose became pointy and long, his eyes and hair turned white, he grew a full beard, and his body temperature dwindled to an unnatural low of 30°C (normal human body temperature is 37°C). Despite these unnatural body conditions and being in a land covered by snow, Petrikov managed to survive.
As his mind and body became further twisted by the crown, Simon thought himself "too far gone" to find an escape from its influence, though he hoped that he could one day regain his sanity enough so that Betty, his "princess," would come back and love him again.

For a period, Simon was friends with Marceline, a young half demon, at the time, who survived the Mushroom War. The two of them bonded, but even she realized that Simon was changing due to the effects of the magic crown. During a period of the Mushroom War before Simon was completely lost, he discovered a crying Marceline in the wreckage, where he gave her a stuffed toy from a toy shop destroyed in the conflict to comfort her. This toy would be Marceline's precious Hambo, which she would keep and cherish until it was sold to a witch by her ex-boyfriend Ash. Marceline described Hambo to Ash as her "favorite thing in the world." She was seen alone with a worn-out version of the stuffed toy when Finn and Jake visited her memories, apparently several years after Simon gave it to her; it was perhaps her only companion in the devastated world after Simon's transformation was complete.

Sometime when the Ice King was still Simon Petrikov, he found the ancient text of heroes, the Enchiridion. This is shown in a newspaper clipping[1] that Marceline shows him in the episode "I Remember You" The newspaper heading reads, "Simon Petrikov unearths Ancient Treasure" and later reads "Silly man returns from expedition with a marginally exciting discovery" This newspaper clipping can be seen in an image above.

It could be implied that the crown he wore only sought to protect him. It taught him the secrets of the "ice and snow," so he would survive the Mushroom War, as it did for Farmworld Finn in "Finn the Human."

As many years passed, Petrikov became disassociated from his original identity so completely that his only reaction to watching a video of his past was embarrassment at the idea of having once worn glasses. Further proof of his dissociation is shown in "What Have You Done?" when he responds to Jake's accusation of him stealing the crown with, "I didn't steal it. I made that item! Made it with the magic that I stole!" showing that he doesn't remember how he really found the crown. Also when others refer to him as "Simon" he acts confused and once responded by saying, "What-mon?" This shows that he does not in the least remember his former identity and if the original Simon is still in there he is suppressed into the depths of his mind.

He is no longer human; the power of the crown not only twisted his mind but his body as well. His species/race is now Wizard according to the writers. In "Mortal Recoil," when Princess Bubblegum was at a risk of dying, Ice King mentioned something about if she dies, he would be lost in his own labyrinth of emotions, similar to what Petrikov says in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II."

Though Ice King is normally portrayed as disagreeable and short-tempered, he is merely a nuisance and "isn't usually a serious threat," according to Princess Bubblegum. A genuinely tragic, lonely, and sympathetic character, Ice King spends most of his time kidnapping and imprisoning the various princesses of Ooo in hopes of someday marrying one. Due to his poor social skills, enduring short attention span and arrogant nature, Ice King is unable to woo any of his prisoners and often resorts to a forced marriage instead of the loving relationship he craves. However he can be a loving person as revealed in "Princess Monster Wife." Aside from Gunter, his other penguin guards, and numerous ice creatures, Ice King has only a few other friends and expresses a continual zeal to spend time with anyone who will tolerate his company, especially his frenemies, Finn and Jake. In "The Eyes," he takes on the disguise of a horse to spy on Finn and Jake in an effort to learn how to be happy, but fails that as well. He has been labeled a "sociopath" by the Cosmic Owl.
Despite Ice King's more antagonistic role, he plays the part of a protagonist in "Mortal Recoil," helping Finn and Jake to defeat Princess Bubblegum by freezing her Lich-possessed body; in the mini-episode, "Let's Work Together," he actually helps Finn and Jake regardless of the fact that Finn said to "sacrifice" himself, but unbeknownst of the fact that it also changed his face.

Ice King is harmless in nature and only kidnaps princesses and steals out of desperation. However, in the episode "Loyalty to the King," when he does have the opportunity to marry many princesses, he secretly plots to make an elite army of wives to take over the world with. His misunderstood intentions may either be in question or may just stem from his lunacy. His crown has made him insane over the years, affecting his social skills, causing him to unintentionally do bad things. Friendship and companionship is all he really wants, though goes about it the wrong way. In "I Remember You," it is shown that he was caring as Simon Petrikov. He cared for Marceline when she was a child left alone in the wreckage of the Mushroom War.

When Ice King is wearing his magic crown, it gives him the power to control all forms of ice and snow. This includes, but is not limited to, throwing ice lightning, moving ice with telekinesis, creating living manifestations of ice, flash freezing his enemies, and the ability to onset wintry weather on cue. In "Thank You," the Ice King makes a full armor of ice and says that it is "invincible." However, Finn and Jake eventually chopped away the ice.

His beard is apparently prehensile, operating much like a limb with partial shape-changing abilities, which he can wield in close combat. His beard also forms tiny wings that allow him to fly, although he must have both his beard and crown to fly. Because of his quick temper and arguably slow wit, he isn't able to wield his powers as effectively as he should, but has proven himself capable of swiftly defeating Finn and Jake when amply provoked, as shown in "When Wedding Bells Thaw" and "The Eyes." In "Loyalty to the King" he spouts blue fire like energy fom his hands.

Ice King can also play the drums, once demonstrating a drum solo, and owns two drum sets, one of which is a green one with "#1 Babe" across the front. The set consists of a bass drum, a floor tom, a snare, a crash cymbal, a ride cymbal and a hi-hat. His other drum set, a red one, is in terrible shape, and smashed to pieces in a corner of his castle. He can also play the keyboard fairly decently. The fact that he has so many instruments lying around his castle indicates that he has a fair amount of musical ability.

In "The Chamber of Frozen Blades," the Ice King is shown to have studied the Ice Ninja art of Fridjitzu.

Aside from his magic, Ice King owns a pair of nun-chucks that he uses during the Wizard Battle to "cheat" as opposed to using his ice powers.

The strange things Ice King sees through his Wizard Eyes.

Ice King also possesses a power known as "Wizard Eyes," which allow him to see certain things that normal people can't. However, it also causes him to constantly see strange, freaky creatures. He notably used this power in "Mortal Recoil" when he witnessed the Lich take over the melted body of Princess Bubblegum. In "Mortal Recoil," as in the picture on the above-right, the camera briefly shows the viewer what the Ice King is seeing at the time. It gives the impression that the Ice King is imaginatively, completely insane. In the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," Simon Petrikov says that he saw strange visions while wearing the crown. In "Beyond this Earthly Realm," it is revealed that his Wizard Eyes allow him to see into the Spirit World, explaining that the freaky creatures surrounding him are spirits like Finn when he is transported to the Spirit World.

The Ice King also has the Demonic Wishing Eye and the Ghost Pouch. The Demonic Wishing Eye's powers were shown in "Reign of Gunters" when Gunther used it to (temporarily) conquer Ooo.

Nice King is the beardless alter ego of the Ice King, who appears in "Loyalty to the King." The reason for his existence was the Ice King's choosing to shave his beard, in hopes that it would make him more attractive to princesses after innumerable failed captures. When going out in public in his beardless form, a misinterpretation by Slime Princess when introducing himself ("a nice king," instead of "an ice king") ultimately leads to the princesses trying to court him. He also dubs Finn and Jake his loyal "Nice Knights," commanding them to interview his prospective princesses auditioning for a date.

In "The Eyes," Ice King spies on Finn and Jake, disguised as a creepy horse. The horse has a very "un-horse-like" face with ever-staring eyes and a protruding tongue. Its vacuous expression leads Jake to suspect it has a case of "whacked-out poo brain." Finn and Jake try many things to get rid of him. When Finn finally kicks it, Ice King pops out of the inflatable horse costume. According to the Frederator Blog, the design for this horse was inspired by Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant comics, which features a similar Fat Pony character.

In "Still," The Ice King freezes Finn and Jake with "Freezing Potion A" so that they can bond. One of his bonding activities is better understanding each other's perspectives by dressing up like each other. He knots his robe so that it's the same length as a t-shirt and colors his feet black with a marker to make his clothes look like Finn's. He then wraps his beard around the top of his head and pulls two tufts out of the top to mimic Finn's hat. As the finishing touch, he creates a backpack out of ice to look like Finn's pack.

Numb-Chucks: Ice King summons nunchucks from ice and slams the opponent with it.

Ice Parry: Ice King flash-freezes himself in a sheet of ice. If he is touched by melee attacks while in this state, he will pass the freeze to his opponent and hit them with his Kunai Blade. This does not work when hit by low attacks.

Stars of Frozen Rain: Ice King will hurl an ice shuriken at the opponent.

X-Ray - Shatter: Punches into the opponents neck, he then freezes and breaks the thyroid, followed by a punch in the crotch freezing the appendix and break it.

Ice King has a tattoo of a penguin on his butt, as seen in the episode "Prisoners of Love" during his dream sequence.

His cut-out has Ricardio sticking out under his beard.

Ice King has a computer which he uses to play video games, as seen in "What is Life?," and to make rudimentary drawings of himself with princesses, as seen in "The Chamber of Frozen Blades."

In "Mortal Folly," when Ice King tried to lift the latch on a window in order to see Princess Bubblegum, he used a small card that has the word "Wizard" printed on it.

He sometimes falls asleep with his eyes open, as seen in "Still."

As Simon Petrikov, a Scientific Parasite is visible in his coat pocket.

In the ending of "Fionna and Cake," it is revealed that Fionna, Cake, Prince Gumball, and all the other gender-swapped characters exist only in fan-fiction written by the Ice King.

Ice King's gender swapped character is Ice Queen.

Ice King is older than Marceline as seen in the episode "I Remember You."[3]

An old newspaper clipping featured in "I Remember You" shows Simon Petrikov as the discoverer of the Enchiridion.

The Ice King loves filling his bathtub up with milk and sitting in it like he's a magic angel. This is revealed in a fast-forwarded portion of Ice King's tapes in the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I."

Even though, as seen in "Mortal Recoil," the Ice King does seem draw the line at how old a girl would have to be for him to capture and marry (which seems to be 18 years old), he is still somehow attracted to females at least 14/15 years and up. He mentions, for example, Finn's current girlfriend Flame Princess in his song "Oh, Bubblegum" in "I Remember You," and even his fictional, gender-swapped version of Finn, Fionna.

In "Mortal Recoil," Ice King states that he doesn't want his "future wife" to be physically unattractive, but is not bothered by how Princess Monster Wife looks. (However, this may be because to him, she is not physically unattractive, seeing that she is made out of his "favorite parts" of his "favorite princesses.")

It seems that the Ice King will steal any adult female so long as she has the word "Princess" in her name. This is shown in "The Chamber of Frozen Blades," in which he steals Dr. Princess, even though "Princess" is merely her surname. As shown in "Princess Monster Wife" he's still attracted to her.

Even though he has been changed by the crown, Ice King still shows signs that some vestiges of his former self remain. This can be seen in certain things he says and does. For example, in "I Remember You" when he finds his old scrap book filled with poignant reminders of the man he once was and his shared past with Marceline, he absent-mindedly describes the pages as "wet with tears." The implication is that during a recent moment of lucidity he was crying over them and has since forgotten doing so. He brings the diary entries with him as inspirational material for the song he wants Marceline to help him compose.

Ice King's obsession with princesses comes from the loss of his fiancée Betty, who he refers to as his "Princess."

In the note of Simon Petrikov, there are visible writings of the lyrics to "Oh, Bubblegum." He stated that he wrote the lyrics down on those papers, and since that picture of young Marceline had notes on the back, it might refer that somewhere in Ice King, Simon was trying to communicate with and ask for forgiveness from Marceline.

The manipulative influence of Ice King's crown, its magical powers, and the fact that it gives its wearer unpleasant visions make it reminiscent of the One Ring from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series. The Ice King's reaction to the crown is, as a consequence, very similar to the effects of the Ring on Gollum/Smeagol (unnatural long life, loss of sanity from obsession and isolation).

The fact that Simon was an antiquarian who found an artifact that drives him insane is very similar to many H. P. Lovecraft stories, in which most of his characters are scholars and antiquarians. Insanity caused by an artifact or event is a main theme in most of his stories.

The design of the Ice King seems to be at least partially inspired by the Winter Warlock from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970). Both are robed wizards with cold/winter related powers, have long pointy noses, long white beards, similar crowns, eyebrows, and triangular teeth. Similar to Ice King's Gunter, the Winter Warlock also befriends Kris Kringle's penguin, Topper.